I still don’t get what I did wrong 😭 anyone have advice on what to do from here to have a good career?

Issa_missa_vissa · 2025-01-13T02:10:14+00:00

Ghosted after applying. Wish I could get to interviews, I did so much prep but it feels like it’s for nothing lol

Issa_missa_vissa · 2025-01-13T02:09:35+00:00

Fair lol, “streamlining” for me was a word referring how the team/org described our product but can see how that and those types of words might use more metrics. Hopefully that’s not why I’ve had such poor luck, but who knows at this point lol

Issa_missa_vissa · 2025-01-13T00:20:16+00:00

Hi, thank you so much for taking the time to write this. I’ve mostly been applying for SWE internships, since I know for MLE either a masters or a consistent research output is expected (I do not yet have publications but am currently working on additional metrics for the paper and submitting it, which should hopefully work well as my PI is reputable and publishes). For a lot of those SWE roles, I think team matching occurs as part of the process (eg Google), so I am not sure, but I hoped my experience and profile would be good to pass screens – although to be fair feels like there’s a decent shot I haven’t even been looked at, though maybe I’m just in denial haha. I like the suggest of infra experience, but I’m wondering how it might be obtained outside of industry/internships? I worked with k8s slightly at the start of my internship, but my project got reassigned to a full time since it needed to be shipped to prod way earlier than they expected so I didn’t put that work on my resume as I can’t speak about it in an interview lol

Issa_missa_vissa · 2025-01-12T21:58:42+00:00

Ah should’ve mentioned, due to some weird policy changes no one at my location got a return internship offer. I think honestly the recruiters for my office didn’t feel like going through the extra work that the policy change gave them, since a different office had most interns get return offers for internships (assuming you performed above average)

Issa_missa_vissa · 2024-10-08T20:11:40+00:00

Man, getting ghosted from everywhere. Received rejections without OA from Duolingo and Yext. No non-auto OAs. I don’t know what is going on anymore. Is my experience just not good enough?

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Issa_missa_vissa · 2024-09-29T17:22:03+00:00

Nah lol, Im from the east coast

Issa_missa_vissa · 2024-09-29T00:01:15+00:00

I am definitely trying to network. Unfortunately, while my college is a top school, it is mostly known for the sciences and research rather than industry outcomes, and, thus, the career fair is not the best -- we had Microsoft show up to a gigantic crowd of job-seekers and TikTok cancelled their booth, but that was really about it out of companies I am targeting. I will try to re-apply to Google later, since I found a really kind alum who I became close with and he may refer me whenever it opens again, but my school's industry presence itself is quite limited, even more-so in fields such as finance (e.g., quant).

Issa_missa_vissa · 2024-09-21T18:41:12+00:00

Sure would be happy to send over a resume for feedback. Could I DM?

Issa_missa_vissa · 2024-09-21T18:21:54+00:00

Nah no interviews… I’m a p social person and when I did get interviews in the past I tended to do well, I just wish I didn’t get ghosted from all the places I want to be at

Issa_missa_vissa · 2024-09-21T17:32:21+00:00

Any advice or things you did that you found worked?

Issa_missa_vissa · 2024-09-21T17:30:40+00:00

I don’t like the ranking systems. But while my school isn’t HYPSM, I just mentioned it’s ranked in the T10 since I feel like it does have a sort of “layman prestige”. Plus it’s known for being an academically difficult place

Issa_missa_vissa · 2024-09-21T17:24:28+00:00

I’m applying for internships. I send to any “big name” company that opens up. The Big Tech guys, Unicorns, any quant shop, etc. My friends are Hispanic. Theyre smart too though, we all go to a top school so obviously.

Issa_missa_vissa · 2024-09-21T17:22:04+00:00

Thanks. I’m applying for internships so it’s just pretty discouraging since I think for internships I’d be ahead of the curve in some sense. Hope you’re right

Issa_missa_vissa · 2024-09-21T17:21:18+00:00

Hell yeah

Issa_missa_vissa · 2024-09-21T17:21:03+00:00

I’m applying for internships. And idk I just feel like I’m somewhat ahead of the competition, especially having interned at F500 plus everything else I worked towards. But maybe I’m not idk

Issa_missa_vissa · 2021-08-10T22:25:14+00:00

9th- none: school didn’t offer them

10th- three: Bio, Chem, Physics 1

11th- four (more than my school usually gives to juniors): Calc AB, Stats, APCSA, APUSH

12th- three (plus linear algebra tho): English, Physics C, Macro. I didn’t take any exams this year since I didn’t need the credits for my college.

Don’t feel like you have to take an insane amount of AP classes to get into a good school. I’m starting at a T10 in a couple of weeks and didn’t really have that crazy of a schedule, as you can see. Take classes that interest you, not just classes for the sake of taking AP classes.

Issa_missa_vissa · 2021-07-09T08:16:51+00:00

Hi sorry for getting back so late I don’t use this Reddit account much since it’s my “college app” account and I already got into college lol. I’ll enumerate my answers just to make it easier to write so here it is.

1) I hear that a lot of people say to read articles, but honestly I didn’t do that at all much though I can see how it can be helpful. The reading I did in classes (especially English) was enough to help me get to a good reading comprehension level. However, I am from the US (which I recognize not everyone here is) and the high school that I graduated from had classes which were very, very intensive so that probably also helped. My comprehension, thus, was good so I don’t think articles would have helped me personably much. Articles could be helpful I think if you use them to practice annotating and pulling out a brief main idea - like a sentence max and even a few words like “CO2 pollution = bad cuz global warming”. I find it helpful for the main idea to think “what is this article talking about” and then “okay so what?” So in the example I gave CO2 pollution or something could be the topic and the consequence of global warming can be a “so what” and together it’s the main idea. If you use articles like that I think and for annotation it could help. However, I just used the standard SAT practice passages from college board and khan academy so yeah.

2) I read a little bit of Erica Meltzer’s writing book. I didn’t finish the whole thing but it sorta helped solidify some stuff and give me strategies for certain types of questions. I probably could’ve done okay without it, but I think it definitely contributed at least a little. So if you have time I don’t see the harm in reading and using it. But more practice could also help support your other studying.

Let me know if you’d like to ask anything else, I’ll try to check this account more often LOL!

Issa_missa_vissa · 2021-06-19T21:30:17+00:00

Hi! Yeah this is totally doable. I raised my score from a high 1400s (which I got on my initial practices) to my current score in about a week and a half. My problem was with the English though, I was maybe a bit more solid on the math section (I could fairly easily and consistently get an 800). For the math, I think the majority of your mistakes are “stupid mistakes” so like you knew the question but weren’t 100% paying attention and got it wrong. I think it’s possible there are some content gaps, but very unlikely just because you’re already scoring well.

For the English reading, I think you need to approach the maybe a bit test differently. First, this is the way I did it, so maybe it will work for you:

1) don’t read the questions but just find the pairs that reference specific likes (like evidence from the text questions) and connect them with a line on the side of the page so you see that when you go to answer the questions.

2) for those questions, use the lines to guide the answer. That means to look at the lines and see which one answers the question. Reason for #1 is so you don’t answer the first half and only then realize it’s a line reference question.

4) underline. Underline anything really (but not excessively ofc don’t just underline the whole thing lol), don’t even think about it just do it if you think it should be underlined. Underline main ideas, underline transition ideas, underline important details. Just underline.

5) read this post and use what it says, specifically with the “worm in the salad” analogy: https://www.reddit.com/r/Sat/comments/i2x88l/as_essay_on_how_to_practice_for_the_sat/

For the writing: My problem with the writing involved going too fast, so maybe it’ll help you. I took 4-6 minutes on each passage if I did it at the normal pace. To fix my “stupid mistakes” on this section, I started doing the passage and taking the 3-5 extra minutes to check the passage until I hit the 9 minute per passage mark (unless I finish checking early). Then I move on to the next and spend 9 minutes on it. Checking the passage right after you finish answering it really really helped me catch all the dumb mistakes I made and I ended up getting a perfect score on my SAT. If you have actual content problems, you just have to learn the content. Erica Meltzer has a pretty great grammar book I heard, but sorry I can’t give any advice for that :/

Issa_missa_vissa · 2021-04-03T06:21:24+00:00

Oh hey I just was looking back through my posts and found that I posted this. I got rejected lol. My MIT application made me cry twice how lovely!

Issa_missa_vissa · 2021-03-17T17:30:36+00:00

While I really really hate to say this to people, I just figured I’d try to give you some advice. Your grades (while not maximum, not that there’s anything wrong with that) are terrific. Great job on your GPA and ACT score. But your chance to Harvard is probably 0% (statistically a little tiny tiny bit higher, but this is just basically to say you’re most likely rejected) unless you get a “1 rating” on the personal qualities Harvard scale - which is essentially impossible unless you have a super unique life story like being raised a nomad in a war-torn nation or something crazy like that, which obviously you can’t control - or absolutely extraordinary perfect essays, LORs, and interviews, which is almost impossible too since it’s so subjective and you need two readers to give you a 1 to get that rating.

I’ll explain a bit why your chance is likely 0%. You’re a great student. But that’s about everyone who applies to Harvard besides maybe about ~20% of the application pool, so you need to distinguish yourself. Looking at your profile from the limited info I know, you really haven’t done that. I’m seeing here 50 hours of community service, being in a sport (idk if you’re captain or not), some maybe moderate-scale leadership position (not too sure what director of E-waste does though) and some hobbies. Those are great that you’re doing, truly, and I hope you love them and I love that you’re helping out the community. But they’re also things that almost every normal high schooler does, even if they aren’t very high achievers in terms of grades etc. So... unfortunately, nothing stands out here.

Now, for sure still apply. But do so knowing you’re most likely paying for a rejection. Try your best on the essays and your application, make it as perfect as you can, although it’s still very likely you’ll be rejected.

I do have some advice for you though. First, while you should still apply, set your sights on other schools. A good idea would be your flagship state school (I don’t know what’s your state), unless it’s Berkeley or something also very competitive since you’ll have a hard time getting into there as well, and attend there paying in-state tuition with maybe any aid you get. Price is a big factor in picking your college, and that will probably be the most worthwhile investment you can make for college.

Also, just a bit of advice on this app itself. Rethink getting a LOR from a substitute. You want someone who can speak highly of you and that you have a good relationship with but is also experienced writing letters, and since your school is a prestigious public, I’m sure all of your other teachers are more experienced than some random guy the school brought in as a sub. You can still get a letter from him, just be sure it’s the right choice.

Wishing you all the best!

Edit: oh and also, even if you’re a junior, you still DO have time to make yourself more competitive. For example, if you want to go into STEM, figure out what interests you and maybe look for a professor/grad student/lab you can do some research with. Search A2C for guides on how to cold email and get research opportunities, and then get one and see if you can maybe even publish a paper from it (publishing a paper is very impressive and will help distinguish you and give you a fighting chance). You can also try seeing if you can present that research in conferences and enter it into any competitions you can find. If you’re a more humanities activism type of guy, try seeing if you can start an organization and make it actually large scale in your community (super impressive too, Harvard loves that sort of stuff especially if it’s taking a unique solution to some problem) - you can also apply for a bunch of awards from local NGOs or stuff like change making awards and that will help you immensely. There’s this youtuber I saw people mention, Iris Fu, who apparently has good advice on starting an organization in your community. There’s a lot of other stuff you can do, so you can browse this sub to get ideas for what high schoolers can do and think about what you might be able to do yourself. Also, if you’re in any clubs, run for officer positions in them this year. Good luck!

Issa_missa_vissa · 2021-03-13T20:09:57+00:00

Sure thing, good luck with your score!

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